


Moonlight Sonata

by live_die_be



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: M/M, Strifehart Kink Meme
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-17
Updated: 2012-04-17
Packaged: 2017-11-05 19:04:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/409968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/live_die_be/pseuds/live_die_be
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Because in real life, the hero doesn't always get the happy ending the deserve. Sometimes they get an even better one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Moonlight Sonata

**Author's Note:**

> Crossposted to ff.net and LJ.

This is how things happen in real life.

He's standing and staring, not yet registering what he was seeing. After all these years it's quite a shock to see him. Him, Cloud.

Leon takes one, hesitant step forward and for a moment he looks like he might reach out, to see if the man in front of him is merely a figment of his imagination, or a hallucination.

They don't run forward and embrace each other, since this isn't a romance book, this is _real_.

It strange to see him _here_ of all places, when the last you heard, he was hunting down Zack at the Coliseum.

But he's here now and as real and captivating as he ever was.

Leon still remember's when he first saw him.

He remember's how he was instantly entranced with Cloud, with his buttery blond hair and his eyes, so bright, so blue. With the way his face was shadowed and he seemed to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. He'd known Aerith, and Tifa, and Cid, they'd known him from _before_.

Leon remember's how he wanted nothing more than to know him. That he wanted nothing more than to make those shadows go away, to make those full, pink lips smile just for him.

He remember's being invited to Cloud's house, where they would talk for hours on end. They told their life stories. He remember's Cloud telling of Sephiroth, geostigma, reunion, Aerith dying and Zack the puppy. Always Zack. Cloud spoke of Zack in such a mournful, lamenting way, it was very clear that Zack was a wound that even after all those years had never healed.

Leon told of Sorceress Edea and Time Compression and _Seifer_. In comparison, his tale paled when set next to the trials and tribulation that Cloud had been put through. Hojo, the triplets, he loss of his world. They felt a deep connection they couldn't feel with anyone who hadn't suffered immensely in their life.

Leon remember's how Cloud's skin used to taste, how his lips used to feel against his own. He remembers how Cloud used to sound when he moaned and how his hands would feel, closed in a bruising grip on his hipbones, or on the back of his neck, pulling him in for a deep kiss.

He had always known that he was just a temporary distraction, a substitute, of Zack, his lover, his puppy, the one that Cloud had never been able to let go of. The one who still held a place in his heart. Cloud would have died for Zack, but instead Zack had died for him.

That was another thing that Cloud had told Leon about, Zack's death. And the aftermath.

He remember's how it felt when Cloud told him he was leaving. Hot, bitter betrayal, pooling thick and burning in his chest as tears he wouldn't let fall pricked the back of his eyes.

A man who fit the description, with his name, Zack, had been spotted at the Coliseum.

Somewhere, along the way, Leon had forgotten that this was temporary, that he was just a substitute. He'd fallen in love with Cloud. He fallen in love with a man whose heart still belonged to another.

Leon remember's trying to make him stay, the words _I love you,_ leaving his lips before he even realized he was speaking. The confusion in Cloud's gaze hurt almost as much as the pity that followed. Though none of it hurt nearly as much as watching him walk away, watching his back retreating into the distance.

He remember's how he had to put himself back together once again, piece by painful piece. He knew that he was damaged even more than before. Although he had seemed whole on the outside, he remembered how hard it was to even get up some mornings, how life was so much _greyer_ without him.

Now though, with the object of his affections standing in front of him, Leon feels that part of himself that he'd put back together so carefully break in two from just seeing him again. "What are you doing here, Cloud?" his voice is close to breaking completely, just like he has inside.

Cloud frowns and runs his hand through his hair, blond and bright like the sun. "It- It wasn't him. It wasn't Zack."

Abruptly he looks as close to shattering as Leon.

Because this is real life, and the hero of the story doesn't always find the happy ending they deserve.

"I couldn't stay away," Cloud admits this openly, turning his blue gaze to Leon, locking eyes with him. It makes what little resolve Leon had built up over the years that Cloud had been gone crumble away like dust.

Leon stands to the side, holding the door open for him. "Do you want to come inside?"

"I'd like that."

**************

**Years later**

Sun is streaming in through the window, bathing the two people on the bed in golden light.

Leon nuzzles Cloud's hair, so gold in the light, with his cheek, lips finding a temple, grazing featherlight kisses down his jaw. Cloud smiles, eyes still closed as he turns in Leon's arms to kiss him firmly on the lips. "Good morning, kitten."

In real life, the hero doesn't always get the happy ending they deserve.

Sometimes they get one that's even better.

  



End file.
